Reference is made to copending application Ser. No. 138,482, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,157. That application describes and claims a receptacle for receiving material to be compacted, such as trash material, the latter being the usual household waste material such as paper, bottles, tin cans, etc. The receptacle has a cover, means for sealing the cover against the escape of flying particles of glass or other unwanted particles, and having inserted slidably through the cover of the receptacle a ram or impactor unit (compaction unit) with an enlarged head. Material is placed in the receptacle, and then the impactor or ram is used to crush or compact the material.
The apparatus of said application is a general purpose apparatus, and no provision is made for economically and specifically segregating the several types of material to be compacted either within such container or a plurality of containers. However, there is growing need for a system which is low enough in price for most families to buy, and which facilitates such segregation. To satisfy this need, the use of several containers, for the purposes of segregation and compaction, seems to be a convenient way, if the cost can be kept low. The general purpose apparatus of said application can be used that way, but is relatively expensive compared to the system and apparatus of this invention.